Adjustable perfume bottle container



P 1963 D. A. SEAVER 3,102,650

ADJUSTABLE PERFUME BOTTLE CONTAINER Filed Jan. 16, 1961 INVENTOR Donald A. Seouver TTORNEY United States Patent 3,102,650 ADJUSTABLE PERFUME BO'I'ILE CONTAINER Donald A. Seaver, West Cheshire, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Jan. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 82,993 1 Claim. (Cl. 215-12) This invention relates to a protective casing or container for glass bottles or similar receptacles of frangible material such as might be used for storing or conveying perfume.

In the manufiaoture of glass bottles or containers, it is well known that a considerable dimensional tolerance has to be permitted because of the uncontrollable character of molded glass.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a protective casing for a glass container that can readily adapt itself to the variable over-all dimensions without placing any undue strain upon any portion of said glass container. 1

Another object is to provide a package consisting of a bottle and an ornamental or decorative casing that will protect the bottle firom damage and which can be manufactured and assembled with the bottle in a simple and economical manner..

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the bottle container embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the same;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the parts in position to be assembled;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper end of the holder shell and bottle top; and,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front elevation of the upper portion of the holder shell.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral designates generally a protective casing inwhich is confined a glass bottle 11. The bottle 11 may contain a pressurized fluid, such as perfume, and consists of a base 12, an elongated body 13 and a neck 14 that terminates in an enlargement 15. A valve member 16 is attached to the bottle by a spinning operation that turns the skirt portion 17 of the valve under the lower surface 150: of the enlargement 15 of the bottle neck, thereby producing a shoulder 17a adjacent the bottom edge of the skirt portion '17. A dispensing nozzle 13 is attached to the valve stem 19 by pushing the stem 19 into the passageway 20 of the nozzle core 21. An inverted cupped shell 22, which may be of the same material as the casing 10, surrounds the core 21 and is provided with an atomizing tip 23 which is connected to j the passageway 20.

The casing 10' is made up of three parts. a tubular body shell 24, a holder shell 25 and a cover cap 2 6. The body shell 24 has an upstanding cylindrical wall 27 and a closed base end 28 which is bowed slightly inwardly. The open upper end 29 of the body shell 24 has three outwardly formed hollow friction nibs 30 over which the holder shell 25 has a tight telescopic fit.

The holder shell 25 is formed with three idiiferent sized diameters: a lower larger portion 31, an intermediate portion 32 and a top smaller portion 33. The lower portion 31 which is the largest in diameter, is dimensioned so as to slip over the upper end 29 of the body shell 24 and firmly engage the nibs 30. The intermediate portion 32 which is slightly smaller in diameter than the lower section 31, is joined to said lower portion by a shoulder 34. The intermediate portion 32 is formed with three outwardly projecting friction nibs 35 adapted to be engaged by the cover cap 26 with a freely removable frictional slip fit. The top smaller portion 33 is joined to the intermediate portion 32 by shoulder 36 and has an interior diameter of right size to receive the enlanged portion of the skirt 17 of the valve 16. The upper end of the top smaller portion 33 has an inturned flange 37 that fits around the reduced section 38- of said valve 16 and rests upon the ledge 39 at the juncture of the skirt 17 and reduced section 38, and determines the distance that the larger portion 31 fits over this casing body 27.

The cover cap 26 has a closed upper end 40' and tapering sidewalls that terminate in an open end 41. The open end 41 is dimensioned to slip over the intermediate portion 32 of the holder shell 25 and frictionally engage the nibs 35 until the open end 41 abuts against the shoulder 34 as a stop. The size of the intermediate portion 32 with its nibs 35 is such that the size of the open end of the cover cap 26 can be constructed so that it will be substantially in flush alignment with the body shell 24 for the sake of appearance (see FIG. 1).

When the container 10' and the bottle 11 are to be as sernbled, the bottle 11 with the attached valve 16, but without the dispensing nozzle 18, is inserted base-end first into the body shell 24. The holder shell 25 is then slipped down over the neck 14 and adjacent body 13 of the bottle until the lower langer portion 31 of the holder shell is telescopically fitted over the upper end 29 of the body shell 24 and engages the nibs 30. As the holder shell 25 is telescoped over the body shell 24, the top smaller portion 33 is guided over the valve 16 until the inturned flange 37 rests on the valve ledge 39' as a step. In this position, it is clear that the bottle 11 is firmly held in place between the inturned flange 37 of the holder shell 25 and the base end 28 of the body shell 24. The holder shell 25 and the body shell 24 are frictionally held together against accidental relative movement by the nibs 36 but it should be noted that the lower portion 31 of the holder shell extends substantially below the nibs 30, and the open end 29 of the body shell 24 is spaced a noticeable distance below the shoulder 34 of the holder shell 25. This allows for considerable adjustment of the over-all length of the container to accommodate the normal manufacturing tolerance of glass bottles which is quite large.

After the bottle 11, the body shell 24 and the holder shell 25 have been assembled, the dispensing nozzle 18 is attached to the valve stem 19' by aligning said stem and passageway 20 of the core 21 and pushing the parts together. The friction fit so produced is strong enough to hold the parts together and the outer cupped shell 22 fits loosely around the top smaller portion 33 of the holder shell 25, thereby giving a finished over-all appearance to the assembled container when the cover is removed. The cover cap 26 telescopes over the intermediate portion 32 of the holder shell '25 until the lower open end 41 is stopped by the shoulder 34.

In practice, it has been found that the variations in bottle length sizes is such that sometimes the holder shell 25 can be telescoped its full distance upon the body shell 24, i.e., until the open end of said body shell abuts the lower shoulder 34 of said holder shell and without the base of the bottle touching the container shell base end 28.

To meet the above contingencies, I propose to construct the top smaller section 33 of the holder shell 25' so that it 'will, by itself, hold the bottle in a secure position. For this purpose, a plurality of circurnferentially spaced ribs 42 are formed inwardly of the top smaller section 33 and are adapted to engage the valve skirt 17 with sufficient gripping force to hold the bottle neck securely within the holder shell smaller portion without danger Otf being pushed thereout due to the forces imparted to the valve 16 when operating the dispensing nozzle 18. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ribs 42 are partially sheared from the sidewalls of the top smaller portion 33 and formed into V -shaped straps arranged in a vertical position, the construction being such as to have some degree or" resiliency. The ribs are preferably positioned .on the top smaller pontion so that the apices 42a of the ribs will slightly engage by a snap-action against the round sunface where the valve skirt 17 joins the shoulder 17a;

In making the assembly of the casing to the bottle wherein the length of the latter is not sufiicient to abut the base of the body shell 24 and wherein ribs are employed on the holder shell 25 to grip the valve skirt 17, it will be necessary to assemble the bottle neck first with the holder shell 25 and then assemble the holder shell 25 and the bottle 11 as a unit into the body shell 24.

One of the requisites of my casing is that the frictional fit between the lower portion 3 1 of the holder shell 25 and the body friction nibs 30 be relatively tight as compared to the frictional fit between the cover cap 26 and the triction nibs 35 on the holder shell intermediate portion 3 2. 'This is to insure that the cover cap 26 can be readily removed from the basing without disturbing the holder shell 25.

It will thus be seen that l have provided an adjustable container for glass bottles or the like, that has a minimum number of parts; that is extremely simple to assemble; and that has a smooth over-all appearance, as well as being economical to manufacture.

4 What I claim is:

A package comprising a bottle normally sealed at its mouth and having an upwardly facing ledge around the bottle mouth, a protective casing for said bottle comprising a hollow body shell surrounding the bottle with the bottle resting on the bottom -wall of said shell, a holder shell having a larger portion and a smaller portion with a shoulder therebetween, the larger portion having a telescopic lit to the upper end of the body shell and the smaller portion having an inturned flange at its upper end engaging said upwardly facing ledge on the bottle as a stop, said body shell having outwardly formed nibs frictionally engaginga-gainst the inner surface of said holder shell, said holder shell extending below said nibs when the two shells are assembled, the telescopic fit being of sufiioient length and suificiently tight to retain the holder shell and body shell together in different endwise adjust-. ed positions so as to accommodate different lengths of bottles, and a cover cap frictionally fitted over the smaller portion and elbutted against said shoulder as a stop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,741,154 Haigney Dec. 31, 1929 2,880,899 Bramming Apr. 7, 1959 2,889,065 Lawlor June 2, 1959 2977,0114 Kock Mar. 28, 1961 2,994,448 Sepe et a1. Aug. 1, 196 1 

